Wet plate photography show at ARCC Gallery

May 06, 2007|From staff reports

Demonstration Monday night During the month of May, the ARCC Gallery at the Aberdeen Recreation and Cultural Center, 225 S.E. Third Ave., is hosting the "Wet Plate Photography and Art of David Rambow." An opening reception will be held Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Gallery. The talk will include a gallery talk and demonstration by Rambow, who lives in Pipestone, Minn. Rambow, is among perhaps a dozen people in the United States who use the wet plate photography technique that went out of style in the 1880s. The process is the opposite of modern photography. In modern photography, the dark part is the silver. In wet plate photography, the dark part is where there is no silver and the light part is where there is silver. The silver forms tiny crystalline particles that shine brightly when lights hit them. Exposure times for wet plate collodion photography are painfully slow - often several minutes long and the images must be exposed and processed before the plate dries. The method also requires a portable darkroom for development while working “in the field.” Rambow has 18 years' experience in conventional photography, graphic design, pen and ink, scratch board and watercolor techniques. He owns a bachelor's degree in history and anthropology. He was employed for more than 10 years as a curator in South Dakota and Minnesota history museums. He spent three years as a naturalist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Most recently, he was a national park ranger in Pipestone. Rambow was out of the art world for several years due to failing eyesight. However, with the aid of a corneal transplant in 1999, he got his stereo vision back and began “tenaciously pursuing the important, demanding and sometimes frustrating medium of wet plate photography,” says a news release. "When I began researching collodion photographic techniques in the late 1990s, there were few 'experts' who could provide advice - none of them located in the interior of the United States. I found loads of 100 plus-year-old photographic journals, but those sources provided cryptic bits of information with archaic measurements,” Rambow said. "An old cover story of U.S. News & World Report magazine about re-enacting the Civil War and the modern people who portray those times led me to John Coffer, the undisputed 'father' of the wet plate revival in the 20th Century." "I wrote Coffer several letters inquiring about the process, and he eventually agreed to teach me how to do it correctly and safely. I flew to Rochester, N.Y., and from there took a rental car through the woods for several hours - finally arriving at a dead end road over which was a wooden sign post advertising this place as Coffer's "Camp Tintype." John was quite patient with me over the next week as he walked me through all the steps (and) gave me copies of his formulas. Although the demonstrations made it look easy, it's a complicated and cranky process which doesn't allow for much sloppy technique. "The process is a little like alchemy,” he added. “When I first started to learn, the 19th-century books mentioned measurements like dime weights, scruples, pennyweights and of course, grams. The chemical names were different, too. Silver nitrate was called 'lunar caustic' which is a much prettier name, but until I got John's help there was no one was out there to tell me what these things were. "When you are working with a film that is this slow (ASA of around 2 to 2.5), it dictates your approach. If you shoot things that are moving, you have nothing. If you want people in the picture, they really have to work with you. You can't take any snapshots. On the other hand, sometimes when you really want to have movement blurred, it's delightful. You can even get into your own picture and walk back out again." "Photography is art and science, and it really should be the ultimate blending of both,” Rambow added. “This process is a good blend because I really have to have the technical end under your belt, and then you also have to have the 'eye' of an artist. I believe that there is a place for wet plate technology in the 21st century. I really like the idea of handcrafting something from nothing - from raw chemicals and glass." The show will be on display through May 31. For more information, call the ARCC at (605) 626-7081 or the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department at (605) 626-7015.